In 1997, the band rebranded, and changed their name to Tricky Means, and began to change their sound. This occurred over a period of two years, as they took that ‘Megadeth-slash-Spin Doctors’ sound and moved in a different direction. Tony Kakko in interviews since has cited the influence of fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius on their evolving sound. By the late 1990’s Stratovarius had already released seven studio albums, and their success in their metal genre obviously framed the way the band began to look at their own output. As a result, they began developing a distinct style that emphasized keyboard melodies and a recognizable rhythm line maintained by both the bass and guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko cultivated a clean singing style incorporating both falsetto and tenor ranges.
In 1997, they recorded a demo titled “FullMoon” at Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, marking their first authentic metal recording. During this period, bassist Pentti Peura was dismissed, and Marko Paasikoski departed due to limited gig opportunities. This demo was submitted to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band. On the back of this, two months later, the band secured a three-album contract, much to Paasikoski's displeasure. Following Spinefarm's recommendation to change their previous name for better marketability, the band ultimately adopted the name Sonata Arctica at the suggestion of a friend, combining "sonata" for their music and "arctica" for their northern Finnish home in Kemi. And from this, the band entered the studio to write and record what would become their debut album titled “Ecliptica”.
"Blank File” opens the album perfectly, straight into the fast paced tempo that creates the best tracks on the album. As an Album 1 Side 1 Track 1 for a band, this is pretty spectacular, and straight away showcases all of the great aspects of the band from the outset, especially the terrific lead vocals of Tony Kakko and the playoff soloing between guitar and keyboards. This is followed by “My Land”, not quite at the same tempo but follows the more defined characteristics of the power metal genre. The double kick drums and bass rhythm sets the platform again, raised in spirit by the choral keyboards and wonderful blend in vocals. The melodies throughout the openig two tracks set the platform for the rest of the album to come. “8th Commandment” cranks up the speed again, with the amazing finger speed of both Jani Liimatainen on guitars and Tony Kakko on keys hard to process at times. Anyone who enjoys this genre of music will get a kick out of the opening of the album.
As with all albums of this genre, you will have to accept that the power ballad will come into the mix. There are two on this album, the first bring “Replica” which breaks the usual mould in many respects. Tony’s vocals don’t whine, they soar powerfully and don't try to create false emotion, and the faster paced guitar and keyboard solo through the middle of the song aren’t trying to be heart-wrenchingly soppy. More than anything, it harks back to the hard rock roots of the band with a touch of emotional foreplay added into the mix.
Back into the swing of things, and “Kingdom for a Heart” tracks back into the keyboard driven pace of the album and provides further singalong lyrics that add enjoyment to the track. It is true that the lyrical content throughout might be classified as a little cheesy which isn’t unusual for albums of this genre, but the music itself helps you overlook anything that may on first inspection may sound a little out there. The initial single recorded by the band “FullMoon” follows, and the difference in style compared to the rest of the album is somewhat noticeable, lacking the overall speed and power that comes from the songs that were written during the sessions for this album. It has that more hard rock structure of the band's earlier days as well, and less of the style they performed for the most part on this album. The second power ballad in “Letter to Dana” comes next, opening with flute before Tony’s slowly rising vocals take over. The lovers of power ballads will find what they are looking for here. For me, it resides in that category which is difficult for me to enjoy. I’ll take a track like “Replica” over this any day of the week. “UnOpened” returns to a more pleasant sounding song in the track list, while an increase in tempo and energy comes with “Picturing the Past”.
The album is then closed out by "Destruction Preventer”, a perfect example of an epic album concluding song. Clocking in at 7 mins 40 secs, the atmospheric keyboard opening explodes into the song proper, and we are treated to the several changes in song structure and pace throughout, right up to the conclusion where Tony unleashes his final vocal assault on us, and we finish where we started, concluding an album that, as a band’s debut release, ticks a lot of boxes.
In 2001 I had reached a point where I was beginning to look for new music, to expand my musical horizons that had probably laid stagnant for a few years through the 1990’s decade. The only new bands I had really discovered at that time had been the alt-rock and metal bands that had ridden the wave over that time, such as The Offspring and Foo Fighters and Therapy? Beyond that, most of my music listening had stuck true to the bands I already knew. And the place I began searching was the European power metal scene, mainly on the back of my love of Helloween’s recent release “The Dark Ride” and Blind Guardian’s “Nightfall in Middle Earth”. And so over a period of 12 months, I began to find and immerse myself in the music of such bands as Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Edguy, Rhapsody and Sonata Arctica.
The first song I heard by Sonata Arctica was their amazingly brilliant cover version of Scorpions “Still Loving You”, taking a perfect power ballad, and turning it into an amazing speed metal song. If you haven’t heard it, you can check it out of the episode dedicated to that song on my “Which Version?” episode on this podcast. They also did a terrific version of Iron Maiden’s “Die with Your Boots On” on another tribute album. These two songs were enough to convince me that I needed to listen to this band and see what they could do with their own music. And so, I did, getting both this album and its follow up “Silence”, and playing the hell out of them. And of course, as you would expect, I found this album absolutely... average. I mean, it was okay, but I had overhyped it on the basis of those two cover songs. I was expecting something truly amazing, and what I got was an album of a genre that I was still coming to grips with, and as a result I was underwhelmed.
That did change over time. As I listened to more bands of the genre and more of this band, I began to understand their music, and instead grew to love it rather than looking for something that was going to blow me away. And it is funny how with all of those bands I mentioned – Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Edguy, and Sonata Arctica, it took me awhile to appreciate the music, and as I did, then all of those bands fell into my radar, and I found several albums from each of them that I truly love. And “Ecliptica” is one that I do enjoy every time I put it on.
For the past three weeks, I have given this a lot of listens. It helps that it comes after two solid months of albums that required reviewing on a daily basis, so I have actually been able to give this more of my attention. And from the outset I was reminded once again of what I love about this band. Tony’s vocals, the great drumming from Tommy, the running bass lines of Janne, and the trade-off guitar and keyboard solo pieces from Jani and Tony. It still reminds me of that time almost 25 years ago when I began to discover this genre and this band, and I am still thankful that I finally decided to spread my wings and give it a go.
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